Thai ambassador to speak to IU students\nKasit Piromya, Thailand's ambassador to the United States, will be giving a lecture on campus today titled "U.S.-Thai Relations: Elections, Trade, Tsunami." The lecture, which will occur at 5 p.m. in the Moot Court Room in the School of Law, is a part of the ambassador's two-day stay at IU. After the public lecture, Piromya will be meeting with members of IU's Thai Student Association.\nWhile in Indiana, Piromya also will be meeting with professors and deans from IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis as well as with officials representing the state of Indiana. The ambassador's visit to IU was coordinated by the Office of International Programs.
Suspect pleads guilty in plot to kill Bush\nALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A Virginia man accused of plotting with al-Qaida to assassinate President Bush has admitted his guilt on numerous occasions, an FBI agent testified Tuesday.\nAhmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, admitted "multiple times" that he joined al-Qaida while studying overseas in Saudi Arabia and discussed plans with the terrorist network to assassinate President Bush, FBI agent Barry Cole said. The agent also said the suspect talked about plans for a Sept. 11-type attack in which "hijackers would board planes in Great Britain and Australia ... so they did not have to have U.S. visas."\nAbu Ali also discussed killing U.S. congressmen and soldiers and blowing up naval ships in American ports, Cole said. He said Abu Ali's confessions are corroborated by the admissions of an al-Qaida cell leader in Saudi Arabia who surrendered to authorities.\nAbu Ali, a U.S. citizen who grew up in Falls Church, Va., is charged with conspiring with al-Qaida to kill the president in a plan that prosecutors said was hatched while he studied in Saudi Arabia in 2002 and 2003.
Rice dissatisfied with Canadian decision\nLONDON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Canadian diplomats Tuesday of her disappointment over Ottawa's decision to opt out of a U.S.-led anti-ballistic missile shield program.\nU.S. officials have made no secret of their unhappiness with the Canadian stance. Last week Rice deferred plans to visit America's northern neighbor early in her tenure at the State Department, although her spokesman said the change was not a sign of Rice's displeasure.\nCanadian diplomats requested a short meeting Tuesday with Rice on the sidelines of an international conference on Palestinian reform. She met for 10 to 15 minutes with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew, said a Bush administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.\nThe official said Rice made clear her disappointment with Canada's stance.\nCanada announced its decision on the missile defense system last week, setting off a prickly exchange between the U.S. ambassador to Canada and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. U.S.-Canada relations were already clouded by strong Canadian opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
